North Fork Casino Worth $750 Million Opens as Lawsuit Continues

The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians in California, USA, opened the $750 million North Fork Mono Casino on October 27. The project, which took about 25 years, opened one day ahead of schedule. However, the opening took place under the shadow of a legal objection seeking to stop the gaming.

In the first phase of the facility, built beside Highway 99 in Madera, there is a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor. It features 2,400 slot machines and 40 table games, including blackjack, pai gow and roulette. The complex also includes two restaurants, six dining options, a gift shop, a cultural exhibit space and a parking lot for 4,000 vehicles.

The tribe expects to create about 1,500 paid jobs, most of them full-time. The project is also expected to generate additional employment through local businesses and to bring an economic impact of more than $2 billion to the region over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, Picayune Rancheria, which is affiliated with the Chukchansi Indian tribe, has asked a federal court to block gaming at the new facility. This is the third federal lawsuit the tribe has filed against the project. Picayune argues that the new casino would create an unfair competitive advantage over its own casino 40 miles away.

The dispute stems from the two-step approval required because the land was acquired after 1988. This approval must be obtained from both the Department of the Interior and the governor of the state where the land is located. North Fork received federal approval in 2012. However, last year a state court ruled that voters rejected the gaming compact in 2014 and that this invalidated the approval given by former Governor Jerry Brown. According to Picayune, this ruling means North Fork never obtained the required state approval.

The tribal chairman argued that the project's approval process is one of the most closely watched and scrutinized processes at the national level.